The present invention relates in general to data processing systems and in particular to computer software. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to an improved method and system for asynchronously updating webpage content.
A webpage is a document found on the World Wide Web that can be accessed through a web browser. This webpage is usually written in HyperText Markup Language (HTML), and is retrieved from a web server using Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). Typically, web pages are made up of static text that is served by the web server. An improvement to HTTP is Asynchronous JavaScript And eXtensible Markup Language (AJAX), which is a development technique for creating interactive web applications that makes web pages feel more responsive by exchanging small amounts of data between a web page and a web server, and for making page user interface updates incrementally without having to reload the entire page.
Java is an object-oriented programming language, which utilizes high-level syntax derived from C and C++, but includes a simpler object model with fewer low-level facilities. Java programs are typically compiled into “bytecode”, which can either be interpreted at run time or compiled into native machine code for execution. Java programs utilize configurable security features to enable selective restriction of network and/or file access operations. AJAX utilizes a client side script language, such as JavaScript, along with eXtensible Markup Language (XML) to enable the creation of the initial conditions for the evolution of dynamic, intuitive, complex, and data-centric user interfaces in web pages. AJAX thus increases the speed, interactivity, and ease-of-use of web pages.